Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Energy Ministry official Morteza Mousavi has said that the level of water at Iran's Lake Urmia has turned positive after 18 years of recession.
He said that during the current water year the precipitation at the lake's drainage area was registered at 237 millimeters, showing 39 percent year on year and 3 percent long-term increase.
This has caused Lake Urmia's water level to turn positive, reaching 1,270.70 meters, whereas it was 1,270.66 meters at the same time last year, he said, IRNA news agency reported April 8.
Mousavi explained that in the previous years, the lake's water level would lower by 35 to 40 centimeters every year.
He further pointed out that in the current water year, dams in the lake's drainage area have been filled up to 69 percent, 8 percent higher than the amount related to the same time of the preceding year.
The lake's total input for the current water year was 890 million cubic meters whereas it was 830 million for the previous year, he noted.
The lake's water volume currently stands at 3 billion cubic meters, covering an area of 2,510 square kilometers.
Lake Urmia's area is about 6,000 square kilometers. The lake has already lost 90 percent of its water. The water level in Lake Urmia started decreasing in 1995.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani set up the working group -Committee for Lake Urmia Restoration- for saving Lake Urmia in the first cabinet meeting in 2013.The committee prepared a 9-year plan to restore the lake, with 2023 being the year when the lake would have been completely restored.
The proposal suggests some measures on reduction of water consumption in the agriculture sector as well as transferring water from other regions into the lake.
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